Fitness check
This 5-second test reveals how fit you are
The “Sit and Rise” test is designed to reveal general fitness and health.
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It doesn’t always have to be trendy sports: with a simple test we can find out how fit we really are in just five seconds. Try it!
Sometimes the simplest means are the most effective. On the American TV show “Today,” the renowned doctor Dr. Natalie Azar, how you can test your own fitness and health with a quick check. And you don’t need any equipment.
In just five seconds, the “stand-sit test” reveals the physical fitness of a person. It is an “indirect marker” of general health. This requires mobility, a sense of balance, the cardiovascular system and muscle strength in the legs and torso.
This is how the “Sit to Stand” test works
You can easily try this out at home. The test begins standing, then you sit cross-legged on the floor and stand up again without using your hands or other parts of your body. All movements come solely from the strength of the legs and torso.
Depending on how successfully this exercise is mastered, points are awarded. You get a full ten points if you can get up without having to support yourself. Any assistance provided by hands, knees, forearms or the sides of the legs will be deducted one point. You get zero points if you can’t get back up from a sitting position at all.
In a 2012 study, the test, also known as the “Sit to Rise Challenge” (STR), was used as a marker for the participant’s life expectancy. People between the ages of 51 and 80 underwent it in order to be able to estimate life expectancy. Not surprisingly, the younger test subjects performed significantly better.
Either way, this test is a good way to occasionally motivate yourself to do some exercise and a little performance check. And if you practice diligently, you will quickly noticeably improve your own results.
Sources used: today.com, fitforfun.de